When A Career Becomes A Tribute
by ChildrenofAres
Summary: This is the story of Theo Kasius, a Career who has been training almost all his life for the chance to compete in 'The Hunger Games'. When he is chosen to represent his District, only seven days stands between him becoming a tribute, but what is it truly like to carry the weight of your District on your shoulders? Follow Theo on the seven day run up to the reaping and find out.
1. Three Fingers, One Thumb

**District 2, Training Academy: 10:30pm, One Week Before The Reaping.**

I swung my head in time with the loud drums that vibrated through my bones. Each strike making my blood boil with anticipation of what was to come. The air became cool and still as I closed my eyes and released all my morals and fears. I could feel them silently fall away from me and drift away into blackness like a child drifting away into slumber. The cheering crowds vanished so the slow beat of the drum was all that surrounded me.

I opened my brown eyes and looked at my opponent who was posed for battle, their axe held across their chest. I could see the well disguised fear that filled his blue eyes and the way his hand shook at the mere sight of me. I smiled softly and raised my axe high above my head and swung it to the beat of the music earning a loud cheer from the crowd.

This was the final stage I had to complete before I reached my goal. The goal I had been working towards since I was five years old. The chance to compete in The Hunger Games. I had endured rigorous training for the past ten years so I could become one of the fifteen to take part in the final competitions to see who my District would put forward. I had gone through every class from survival to earning popularity and gave my all during battles with my fellow finalists and now here I was. Only one opponent stood between me and my place as this year's tribute. I had been taught well and in every battle, the most I walked away with was a bruise or a slight cut but I wasn't bigheaded. My opponent was here for a reason. Like me, he had destroyed every contestant he had been given in the final and it only took one slip up for me to end up in a bloody heap on the floor.

"Five…four..." My breath became calm as our trainer started counting down. I lowered my axe to my side, the tip of the handle facing my opponent and the blade facing the crowd of younger trainees. I smirked as I heard a few snigger at the way I held my axe but what to them was a dumb mistake, was the reason I had got this far. I didn't fight the old fashioned way and put my own twist on moves I was taught. Using the same moves as everyone else never did anyone good and it looked like I would have to be the one to teach them that.

"three...two...ONE!" I moved forward the second my trainer bashed the gong behind him. I charged at the boy who held the axe in the regular position with the blade facing towards me. By the time he had swung his axe far enough back to gain enough momentum to be deadly, I was already on him.

I turned quickly but gracefully when I reached him, my axe swinging with the movement of my body. It cut through the air and struck him above the elbow, scraping bone as I pulled my blade across his muscular arm.

He screamed out in pain and swung his axe towards my tall frame. I saw the quick flash of silver and dropped my right leg to the ground and crouched down, just below his swing. He grunted in anger as he brought his axe back round and swung it down towards me in a straight cutting motion. I leaped to the side and swung my leg round making him slightly lose his balance earning a loud shriek from him as his foot slip from under him. Twisted ankle. I had them enough to know they were painful as hell and could affect your performance.

I swung my axe towards his legs and struck his knee caps and with a blood curdling scream and crack, he fell forwards, his axe raised above his head. As he fell forward, his axe struck my hand, cutting my index finger free but he quickly fell to the ground as his axe slid across the floor away from him.

I watched as my opponent let out a bloodcurdling scream as his hands grasped to his caved in knee cap. My breath was heavy and pained as I tried to stop the blood spilling out my hand but judging by the river of tears falling from my opponent's eyes, I was better off. I looked at my four finger right hand and started to feel better about it. My index finger was nothing but a stump now and the pain was horrid but I had completed the first part of my mission. I quickly calmed and rose to accept my victory. I had deserved it, I am Theo Kasius after all.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** _ **Theo Kasius is the first character I have created that had something to do with 'The Hunger Games'. I am not sure what I will do with him at the moment. I might submit him to a SYOT but depending on how I feel and how many people enjoy him, I might write my own short HG story centred around him. Let me know in the comments. I guess I could do both if the writer I submit him to doesn't mind him being in his own mini story.**_

 _ **The plan with this story for the moment is that the story will follow Theo's final week before he volunteers for the Games. This chapter see's him winning the right to volunteer to represent his District which is a big moment for him. This story will be about seven to eight chapters long (unless I decide to make up my own Games for him), and will show his inner thoughts and how he is treated with being the pick to represent his District in that years Games.**_

 _ **Let me know what you think of Theo and the next chapter will be up soon and I promise it will be longer.**_


	2. Morning Angel- 6 days- Part 1

**District 2, Kasius Household: 5:30am, six days before the reaping.**

I groaned as I stretched my right hand out across my bed covers, leaving a bloody trail as I did so. The bloody stump of what was my right index finger, brushed against the thick knitted blanket of which my muscular form was cocooned in. The springs of the old, worn, hand me down mattress dug into my side and created aches that were not there before.

The bright, early sun shone in through my thin, netting curtains and spilled onto my face. My curtains kept nothing away, bugs, the morning chill, sunlight and the ooglying eyes of my fangirls. It was all worth it to wake up with the morning sun and getting an early start on my training. Even now, having a guaranteed place as tribute, I couldn't afford to slack. I guess I could start it an hour later though.

I rolled over onto my back, allowing my eyes to open fully without being burned out of their sockets. I glanced down to the fresh, crimson liquid that dripped from the stump on my right hand. The axe had cut just below the joint under my fingertip so it could've been worse but I stung like a bitch and I wouldn't know until training today how much it affected the way I held things. Thankfully it wasn't my left hand or I wouldn't have been able to volunteer this year due to being weak.

"Where's my little victor" a soft voice said as the old wooden door to my small bedroom creaked open, flooding my black tinted room with light. My short mother hurried in, her small, fragile build struggling to hold the door open with her foot as she manoeuvred a large tray of room around it.

I smiled and pushed myself up into the sitting position as she hurried to my bed side. Her golden blonde hair was twisted into a braid and her brown eyes were full of love and pride. I smoothed out the covers that were spread over my lap as she placed the tray down on them. My eyes widened at the amount of food on the worn, wooden tray. There was a steaming, baked potato with warm slice of bacon folded up inside next to a small bread roll and potato soup.

"Mom" I laughed as I looked up at her "you really didn't have to do this" as I took the small bread rolled and bit a large chunk off and started to chew wildly.

"Anything for my little boy...even if you have out grown me" She giggled as she cocked her head to the side and watched me.

"I outgrew you when I was ten, Mom" I scoffed as she smiled and sat on my bed. I dipped the bread roll in the soup as I watched her follow the bloody trail on my bed cover to my hand. Her eyes filled with worry before she bowed her head and let out a large sigh.

"I knew I should've double bandaged that" She mumbled to herself as she rose to her feet and hurried out the room only to return a few moments with our sorry excuse for a medical box. She took the lid off the battered, cardboard box and hunted through the loose things that filled it, most of it useless to most situations.

"Oh, did your father tell you about what Mr Queen said?" She hummed as she yanked a long, tangled bandage from the box along with a needle and thread. She looked up at me with her eyes that were a carbon copy of mine or, mine were of her's. I couldn't help but shrug as I moved onto the baked potato, dipping it in the soup like the bread roll. My father worked in the quarry and his days almost always started before the sun had even rose. I guess it made sense, by the time they had got their protective gear on and everything, most people had already started their day. The pay wasn't enough for the amount of work he did but that was just what it was like in Panem. However, along with the wages my mother got from being a maths teacher, we made a modest living and with me being the only child, there was enough to send me to training. Their shortage of money is what drives me to victory. Maybe that's why I was so popular. I don't just represent my District, I represented the regular people for once.

"His daughter, Aaribella, wants to ask for your hand in marriage. I mean, you wouldn't get married 'til you won but it would be nice to have a wife waiting here for you" My mother said as she pulled my hand towards her and started to bandage it up with concentration on her face.

I couldn't help but pull a face at the mere thought. Aaribella Queen? I mean don't get me wrong, she is most likely one of the most beautiful women in the District but her personality ruins any beauty on the outside. She broke down people right before my eyes and turned them into quivering wrecks and she always walked round like she owned everyone because she was rich. That isn't someone I wanted waiting for me or to spend the rest of my life with. She had an ugly soul and no one could change that.

"Ahhhh, I think I will pass...I want to fall in love on my own terms I mean after all, it's only because I am a tribute and potential victor" I groaned as she threaded up the cloth bandage around my stump. I wasn't as cocky like most tributes from my District about being trained. If being trained guaranteed your place as victor, their would be no victors from the outlier Districts. Everyone in that Arena was a potential Victor. Only Difference was I had slightly better odds that most of them but it was still only 1 in 24 chance that I would make it out alive.

"You're good looking Theo-"

"I am really not"

"Well anyway, if you don't want to marry her then it's settled, I shall tell Mr Queen when I see him this afternoon. You are going to have to think about life after winning though" She sighed as she cut the thread and placed the remaining cloth and thread back in the box. "Here, that should hold until you can see a doctor" She said softly as she rose from my bed with the box in hand as she collected the empty glass from the side of my bed. Usually we would only be able to afford the training doctor but as I was going to be this year's tribute, I would be able to get the best medical care in the District, free of charge.

"Thanks mom" I said as I kissed her softly on the cheek "I should be getting ready for training anyway" I sighed as I pushed the covers off my body and my mother closed the door. On the floor in front of me was my freshly cleaned training clothes. A grey vest top with a baggy, black hoodie and cloth pants. The shiny black combat boots were new though. I could get used to this tribute treatment. The attention? Nope but the free gifts? You bet cha.

I held the strong, hardy boots in my hand, the ankle protected by a thick cushion. I didn't have a clue who they were from but I would have to be sure to wear them tonight at the tribute crowning, a party held to celebrate the male and female chosen by the District to take part in that years Games.

But first, the doctors and training just to see how messed up my finger was.

* * *

 **Authors** **Note: _There is more to this day that just this. It's just I realised that I can update faster if I kept the chapters short like this. The next chapter will be training/doctors and then the next will be the tribute crowning ceremony then next day. So yeah, I lied about there only being seven chapters._**

 _ **I would like to point out that none of the tribute crowning ceremony and the way Theo is treated by his District is confirmed in the books. It's just what seemed realistic for a District that idolised the Games. Why wouldn't they idolise their tributes.**_

 _ **Thank you for reading.**_


	3. I Can't Decide- 6 days- Part 2

**District 2, Training Centre: 3:45pm, six days before reaping**

My mace shattered the head of the dummy with a sickening crack as I finished off my twelfth and final dummy of the day. I used all my strength to pull the mace towards me as I straightened up to get a better view of my work.

The plastic fragments that once made up the twelve dummies were covered the hard stone floor of the training centre. It seemed like a waste of money to smash something so expensive as plastic but I had been assured that they would just melt it down and reuse it. They had the molds.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt pride in what I had done. They didn't really simulate human heads but if I could smash solid plastic, I could do serious damage to flesh and bone.

Feeling a sense of Completion, I took of my protective helmet and hauled my mace back towards the stand I took it from.

"Suki, you can come in now" I called heavily as I locked the weapons away.

As expected, a small, scruffy dog stumbled into the large room. Her stumpy legs worked overtime to carry her ageing body and her black fur was greying. Her chocolate brown eyes looked lazily at the shards of plastic before looking up and seeing me. Her mouth hung open and her long, pink tongue drooped out of the left side as she sped up the pace to get to me quicker.

"come here old girl" I chuckled as I crouched down to her level and held my arms out wide. Happiness spread out on her face as she tenderly liked my fingers and used all her energy to flop into my lap. She turned on her back, her pink belly in the air, and batted my hand as a signal to rub her tummy. A reward she expected for staying out the way while I practise with weapons.

I have had the old girl since the first week of training. She was my reward for getting 'student of the week', a reward given out to a student from each year who showed the most promise that week. I had won it many times after that but nothing as perfect as Suki. She had been with me all my training life pretty much and even as the old, slow dog she was now, a far cry from the bouncy puppy who used to eat all the food and knock dummies over, she was my baby and I would never change her for the world.

"you fancy practising tracking Su-Su?" I chirped as I flung my arms around her tightly. Suki wiggled with excitement under my grasp and let out a small bark in agreement.

So it was settled then.

* * *

 **District 2, Training Centre Hunting Land: 6:50pm, six days before reaping**

"so, what you think Su-Su?" I questioned Suki as I knelt up from the rabbit tracks in the wet mud. They were fresh and the rabbit was close by for sure. "you fancy going rabbit hunting?" I whispered as I threw a berry towards Suki, her body slightly lifting and catching it in mid air. I smiled at her excited state and popped a berry in my own mouth, it popping and the red juices filling my mouth.

There was a patch of land in two that the training academy owned to help us trainees learn how to hunt and forage. It wasn't the biggest and I was only able to hunt rabbit, mice, lizards and birds. Plant life was pretty few and far between so anything we didn't have, we could only read about but it was better than nothing. Plus, Suki loved it more than anything. It's was nice to spend some quality time with my old girl.

You was sent out with a list of things to catch and pick and after years of doing it, I had the the whole list memorised. Now all I had left was the rabbit, the easier thing to kill but hardest to track. Luckily for me, it had only rained a few hours before so we had perfect tracks to follow.

It didn't take long to find the rabbit after that. The grey fluff was sat in the shade of a rock, it's ears scanning the area for any noise that might be threatening. On cue, Suki laid down on her belly behind a rock, she used to frighten the prey away but now she had learnt that laying low got her food.

I crouched behind a slightly larger rock to the one Suki was behind and nocked the arrow in the bow and pulled back on it. I slowed my breathing and the world seemed to slow down as my eyes focused on the target. Once I was sure everything was aimed, I let the arrow fly, it spinning in the air at frightening speed. The rabbit hardly had time to react before it was struck in the heart and with a thud, it fell to the ground. The death was instant but the animal still twitched and shook as it's body fully shut down.

I ran towards it and grabbed it, holding it towards the sky in victory as Suki wabbled after me in excitement. I tried to always kill my prey as fast as I could, I was deadly not a psychopath.

"Rabbit for dinner then?" I said through a toothy grin as I started to tie the rabbit to my belt. Most days I could of been punished for carrying in out in view of peacekeepers. They understood we needed to train but risked being punished by the Capitol if found to be letting such obvious hunting slip under their nose. However, if you was the career chosen to be that years tribute, you could get away with murder. It happened every year, the chosen tributes would hunt as much as they could for 'practise' to make sure their family was fed. Victory or not.

I looked at the position of the sun and sighed as I started to walk back down towards where my house was. I had a few hours before the tribute crowning ceremony, enough time to cook my catch and get ready before I was forced to be social.

* * *

 **District 2, Tribute Crowning Party: 3:20am, five days before reaping**

I wore my tribute crown with pride. It was nothing special, just a thin strip of metal with a number two carved on it. Mine was much thicker than my District partners counterpart. However, although my pride was there, my outgoing mask was fading so while my District partner received the attention of her beloved fans, I slinked off into the darkness on the way back home. I had stayed at least four hours anyway.

The darkness engulfed me as moved away from the lights, loud people and music and towards the silent streets of District two. The little alcohol I had was making my body feel worn out and sleepy and my only thought was falling face first into my bed.

"Theo!" A female voice shouted from behind me. I swung round to see Aanabell Queen, the girls who had asked for my hand in marriage. The redhead skipped towards me, her body sporting a tight, blue dress, her hair curled and falling flawlessly on her chest. I would of found her beautiful if I didn't hate her.

"Hello Aann-" I was interrupted when she slung her arms round my waist and hugged me, her short form not even making it past my chest. My breath hitched and I tensed, I didn't like people touching me like that.

"I'm going to be the wife of a victor" she squealed as she squeezed me tighter, burying her face in my chest. Was she really that big headed that she didn't even wait to hear my answer before assuming?

"I'm not marrying you-"

"Are you gay?" as snapped and suddenly she pushed me away, her eyes switching from love to anger in a split second.

"No, I just-"

"Do you think I am ugly?"

"No, not at all-'

"Then what!" She screamed at me, her hands bawled into fists.

"I just don't want to marry you, you are not the one-"

"Then who is hm?" she said, her arms crossed in front of her as she pouted like a spoilt child.

"No one yet, I havn't found anyone" I said calmly as I tried to quell my anger. I didn't have a problem with hitting a girl but only if she deserved it. Although she deserved being punished for all the bullying she did, in this instance, she was just being annoying.

"Fine" she sighed, tears in her eyes before she stormed off, her feet stomping like their weighed three ton.

I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as she vanished into the darkness. I would much rather got home, greet my father before work, say goodnight to Suki as she slept at my door and sleep than spend any more seconds of my life with her.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** _ **Suki was based around my childhood dog, Sweepy. She is a dog, dogs are cool. Some of this might seem random but trust me, It will all make sense.**_

 ** _Theo has been accepted into one of LadyCordeliaStuart's story. I can't wait to see how he does. Also, a short story I wrote with Theo Kasius as a battle (Not a HG story), has been published in an anthology book produced by my college so woooo._**

 ** _Till next time, thanks for ready ^_^_**


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